Stats[]
| Category. | Statistic. |
|---|---|
| Launch vehicle. | Titan IIIE/Centaur. |
| Launch date. | September 9, 1975. |
| Launch site. | N\A, USA for the orbiter. |
| Ceased operations. | It was turned off on April 11, 1980 when its batteries failed. The orbiter worked until July 25, 1978, returning almost 16,000 images in 706 orbits around Mars. |
| Owner(s). | NASA. |
| Major contractor(s) | JPL for the orbiter and Martin Marietta for the lander. |
| Is it still in orbit. | The orbiter still orbits Mars and the lander probe is till on the surface in an unknown condition. |
| Launch mass. | 883 kg (1,947 lb). |
| Nationality(s). | American. |
| Satellite type. | Planetary science\Mars orbiter and lander. |
| Links. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_2 and http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html. |
| Category. | Statistic. |
|---|---|
| Launch vehicle. | Viking 2 orbiter. |
| Launch date. | September 3, 1976 |
| Launch site. | Viking 2 for the probe. |
| Ceased operations. | The Viking 2 lander was powered by radioisotope generators and operated on the surface until April the 11th, 1980, when its batteries also failed after 1,316 days (1,281 sols). |
| Owner(s). | NASA. |
| Major contractor(s). | Martin Marietta. |
| Is it still in orbit. | The lander probe is till on the surface in an unknown condition. |
| Launch mass. | 572 kg (1,261 lb). |
| Nationality(s). | American |
| Satellite type. | Planetary science\Mars lander. |
| Links. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_2 and http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html. |
History[]
Viking lander proof test article in the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. Author: Mark Pelligrino.
The physically identical Viking 1 launched aboard a Titan IIIE rocket August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month was spent in orbit around the martian planet and on July 20, 1976 Viking Lander 1 separated from the Orbiter and touched down at Chryse Planitia.
Operations included close approaches to Deimos in October 1977 and the periapsis was lowered to 300 km and the period changed to 24 hours on 23 October 1977. The orbiter developed a leak in its propulsion system that vented its attitude control gas. It was placed in a 302 × 33,176 km orbit and turned off on 25 July 1978 after returning almost 16,000 images in about 700–706 orbits around Mars.